Sand Masters

Last weekend we headed up to Hampton Beach for the 8th Annual Master Sand Sculpting Competition. I was very excited to attend as I'd wanted to see these ever since they started to compete at Hampton and also since seeing the show on the Travel Channel "Sand Blasters".

For the Hampton Beach competition, the artists have two segments that they do. The first is a giant group project that consists of a bunch of different sculptures paying homage to the event's advertisers/sponsors. The second segment is a 21-hour individual competition in which each artists works on their individual creation until 4:00 PM on the last day. At that point time is up whether they have finished or not. There are several cash awards consisting of the top 5 sculptors and then the People's Choice Award.

During the voting for the People's Choice Award, beachgoers get in line to take a ticket (admission is free). They then walk down the row of sculptures and cast their vote on the way out. Steve and I voted for different ones, and the one that he chose is the one that achieved the People's Choice Award (well deserved, but as you'll see I went for clever over technical detail).

Here are some shots of the overall winner, the giant group project, and Steve & I's choices for the People's Choice Award.

Overall Winner: Japanese Garden


Shot of the Group Project


Steve's Favorite: Tropical Paradise


My Favorite: Salvadore, Daili, Llama (get it?)


I had a fantastic time and I will definitely be going again next year. If you're looking for a summer activity that's fun and inexpensive, I highly recommend attending one of these events. Hampton Beach's will be from June 12-25 next year, so be sure to go!

Knight Industries Three Thousand

That's right. K.I.T.T. is back.

Kind of.

Steve and I just watched what I am presuming is the premier of the new Knight Rider series. It was billed as a movie, but the rumor I heard is that it's actually going to be a series. For those of you who know Steve personally, you know that this means that he was very excited when he found out about this movie yesterday.

This time around, K.I.T.T. is a hawt Ford Mustang. The driver is Mike Traceur - a less hokey guy than Michael Knight was, even though he's Michael Knight's son. The premise is the same: super awesome super-powered talking car, dashing young man "driving" around in said car saving the day. I have to admit, after watching this new installment of the series (I'm considering it a much better continuation, actually) I am excited and hopeful for more episodes. They did an awesome job with the revival and I'm sure that tons of old Knight Rider fans agree with me.

Since "24" hasn't been on this year, the new Knight Rider is a suitable replacement. I deem it so.

I leave you with this interview with The Hoff. I think he's intoxicated. Either that or just... well... The Hoff. Hokey Hoff.

Comic Review - Jeff Dunham

For Steve and I, sometimes there's no more relaxing way to spend the evening than to plop on the couch and watch some stand-up comedy. Between Netflix and what's offered on Comcast's On-Demand, we usually are able to do this. A while back, we caught Jeff Dunham on one of the shorter 24 minute Comedy Central Presents episodes and thought he was pretty good. Then last weekend, our friend Jared came over and brought with him "Jeff Dunham: Arguing with Myself".

Why is this title amusing? Jeff Dunham is a ventriloquist, and a darn funny one at that.

Steve and I laughed hard enough when we saw "Arguing with Myself" that we put another special to the top of our Netflix queue and watched it last night. And we laughed even harder. Jeff does a great job with his various characters and does a wonderful job making it seem like they're talking to him. A great example of this is when he makes two of his puppets talk to each other in Spanish.

"Could you guys not do that?"
"Why not?"
"Be... because I don't speak Spanish and I feel left out."

After that line, he makes both puppets turn and look at him like he's crazy.

We've seen three episodes of Jeff Dunham now, and that's more than enough for us to decide that if he ever comes around - we'll definitely be heading out to see him live. Here's an example of one of his segments with one of Steve & I's favorites: Walter. Walter is a grumpy old man who's been married for 47 years. Enjoy.

*Warning - there is a bit of swearing, so if you can get past that he's hilarious.*